A Forest Of Red
by Mystrothedefender
Summary: The TARDIS has landed on a metallic planet, called there, so it seems, by one of the Doctors old friends, but something's wrong... Slight slash. ABANDONED
1. Encounter

The TARDIS made that horrible grinding noise again; the one it made when it had received an urgent distress call, and was adjusting course mid-flight to seek out the source. The Doctor shook his head, "silly thing…" he whispered to himself, "there go our plans for the day…" He walked over to the other side of the control panel and flipped a couple of switches; the grinding noise stopped. "What's happening Doctor?" Amy said as she and Rory rushed into the room, "we felt a jolt, what happened, where are we going?" the Doctor sighed, "another distress signal, the TARDIS thinks it's urgent enough to warrant an immediate change of course." He didn't sound too impressed, he loved his TARDIS, but sometimes it's quirks annoyed him…

The ship landed with a heavy jolt, sending it's three occupants flying across the room. The doors flew open of their own accord, 'that's new' the Doctor was about to say, but the words stuck in his throat as he was overcome by an odd, terrifying and somewhat alluring feeling, the same one he had felt so many times before. "Don't go out there." He said to the pair who were strolling towards the door, "it was a distress call." Amy noted defiantly as they continued out the door. "Every damn time, 'Don't go out there' and wadda they do? They go out there!"

"Doctor!" Amy yelled, she sounded delighted, "It's a forest!"

The Doctor waltzed out pulling the TARDIS doors closed as he left, Amy was right, it was a forest, although obviously not on earth; the bark of the trees resembled white gold, and the leaves and the grass seemed to be made out of garnet gems. "Wow" the Doctor whispered, he looked down at the grass, "all got shoes on? This stuff'll slice through your feet…" Rory and Amy nodded. "Alright… So where did this distress signal come from." The Doctor said, clasping his hand together, "Let's go this way, I think he'll be this way."

"He?" questioned Rory, "How do you know it's a man?"

"Well, not _really_ a man, he's like me… Yes defiantly this way…" he began walking north, laughing quietly at the sound of the grass shattering beneath his feet.

Amy and Rory followed him, "So what you mean he's a time lord? But you said they were all dead."

The Doctor nodded and sighed, "yes, I thought this one was dead too…"

He started to run, darting between trees, he had a large smile on his face; filled with hope. He started to slow when he saw a small craft, it looked as if it had crashed and been partially rebuilt.

He knocked on the door to the craft and waited. Amy and Rory stood half bent, catching their breath, but the Doctor didn't need to, he was running on adrenalin now.

The door opened slowly, to reveal a tall dark haired man with a slight beard, wearing a black suit with a red tie and an intricate broach, which seemed to be made out of the bark and the leaves of the nearby trees.

"Doctor!" the young man yelled pulling him into a hug. "Yes, hello my old friend. What are you doing here? I thought I killed you."

The man nodded, "You did, I was able to imprint myself into a coma victim in a near by hospital, you might want to check some of the others for that. I built this ship, and umm… crashed here… I'm not sure how but I regenerated and… here I am."

The doctor tilted his head, "how did you regenerate? You were in a human body." The man shrugged, "I have absolutely no idea! So who are these two?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor stood back slightly and pointed at the two confused humans, "that's Amelia, and that is Rory… This," the Doctor patted the man on the back, "is the Master."

Rory nodded in greeting, Amy walked forward and stuck out a hand, "that's a hell of a name, so you and the Doctor are friends?"

"No," the Master quipped, "We hate each other don't we lovey?"

The Doctor chuckled, "Yes, yes we do, he's tried to destroy the human race countless times."

"Then why are you acting so chummy?" the humans looked over confused.

"All he's got is this broken down ship, when there's no one he can threaten or hurt we're friends."

"More than friends."

"Shut up…" they smiled at each other.

"And you can't steal the TARDIS this time. I've made a few changes."

The Master smiled, "do you want a cup of tea?"

The two humans nodded politely, "alright then, me first." The Doctor smiled as they filed through the small door, the room they entered seemed to be a living room, it contained a three piece red leather sofa set, and a large set of book cases.

"Oooh" the Doctor said in awe, "this is nice, it's like your dad's old house."

"I didn't design it like this" smiled the Master, "When I came round after regenerating it had changed to this."

The Doctor tilted his head, "that's odd."

The Master shrugged, "isn't it just! Anyway, tea." He walked into the kitchen, the Doctor gestured for Amy and Rory to sit down, and walked into the kitchen after his friend.

The kitchen was rather small, a quarter of the size of the living room, just the basics, and a small table and chairs. The Master flicked on the kettle, "Do you like my kitchen?" the Doctor nodded, "and let me guess, after you regenerated this had changed as well?" the Master nodded happily, "yeah, but I love it. I used to model my TARDIS like this, it's just so nice."

"…Why are you acting like this? You've not been like this since before we were 200… What's happened to you?"

"I don't know, I've just felt calmer since I regenerated, younger. Just… more peaceful. Like; what's the point of ruling or distroying the universe when I've already got this little paradise."

The Doctor smiled, "Well it's nice to see you back to your old self, back when we were friends."

The Master giggled as he poured the now boiling water into the four teacups, "Those were some good years. Do you remember when we went to Medusa Cascade? And we slept in that hammock?"

The Doctor chuckled, "well we were young back then. I think doing something like that now might kill me…"

He backed out of the room holding two cups of tea, "I'll just give Amy and Rory these."

He bent over Rory and Amy, giving them the tea, "there's something wrong with the Master; this place has done something to him. He's acting like he did when we were young. There's something wrong."

Amy took a sip of her tea, "that's weird. Why's that happened?"

"I don't know, have you two been feeling anything?" They both shook their heads, "Hmmm… I don't know if that's true, Amy, you've not insulted anyone since we landed, not even that ridicules broach Master's wearing."

Amy smiled, "I think it's pretty…"

The Doctor shook his head, "No you don't. You hate things like that; you've said so before. I think there's something wrong with the air in this place, most likely from the metal trees."

The Master walked into the room, holding his and the Doctors cup of tea. "Here you go lovey," he said as he handed the Doctor the tea and sat down, "I'm going to have to insist you stay the night, it's dark out now and I can't have you stumbling around in the dark. You'd hurt yourself."

Doctor smiled, he had a suspicion that there was another reason for the Masters want to have them stay the night. "Ok, can't think of a reason not to."

Amy narrowed her eyes, "But doctor, what about that thing…"

"Oh it should be fine, it shouldn't effect you too badly for a while, should be alright for a night." The Doctor smiled.

The master clasped his hands together, much like the Doctor often did, "Brilliant! Shall I show you to your rooms after you've finished your tea?"

Amy nodded, "can I ask a question first? Why do you keep calling him lovey?"

The Master looked over at the Doctor smiling, and giggled slightly.

"Me and the Master used to have a bit of a thing." The Doctor said sheepishly.

"A bit of a thing? We were an item. Almost inseparable for almost one hundred and fifty years."

Rory's jaw dropped, "one hundred and fifty years?"

Amy looked over, confused, "You're gay? But I thought you and River had a thing?"

The Doctor smiled, "we do, or did, or whatever. The thing about time lords is that we don't really have defined sexes, I mean, you can be male of female, but a time lord can be either, like one of those exotic frogs, so to us the labels of gay and straight don't apply."

Amy smiled, "So have you ever been a girl?"

The Doctor shook his head, "Master has though."

The Master nodded, smiling, "so then, now the tea is finished, shall I show you to your rooms?" Amy nodded, "will you two be sharing?" the Master asked, gesturing to Amy and Rory, who nodded in answer.

They strolled down an adjacent hall, coming to a stop in front of a small door, the Master opened it, Amy gasped, inside was a white four poster bed with a green rug lining the floor, and in the corner a large pale wooden wardrobe. "There should be pyjamas in the wardrobe."

"Wow" whispered Amy, "It's so pretty." She and Rory entered the room and closed the door, saying goodnight as they did.

The Master turned to the Doctor, leaning against the blue wallpaper, "So I suppose, if you are in a relationship with this River person, you'll be wanting a separate room too?"

The Doctor smiled, "Well, I'm not really sure what the thing with River is…but umm… It would be nice to have some company; I've not shared a bed with anyone in quite a while." The Master smirked, triumphant. He led him down a long winding staircase, and along another hallway. They stopped at a door; the Master opened it to reveal a large bedroom with a small-ish double bed, the room was decorated blue and purple, "oh my god!" Doctor mumbled, "this is my room! From when I was young." He laughed, "Did you do this?" He asked the Master who chuckled and shook his head, "No, again after I regenerated it changed. I had some of the best times of my young life in this room..."

"...It's odd..." smiled the time lord, "it's as if whatever brought me here, made me regenerate, it seems to want me to be happy... This place is like a simple heaven... Whenever I eat something it reappears in the cupboard, if I need something a whole room appears that's devoted to it."

"Well that really is weird." The Doctor mumbled, "...So then... My Master... I'm not feeling very tired at the moment, what do you suggest we do...?" The Master chuckled, "Oh I always like it when you call me that." The Master pulled his fellow time lord into a long, passionate kiss, moans and giggles of pleasure coming from both parties, "God, I've missed you, being like this..." The Doctor moaned, as the time lords fell onto the bed.


	2. Not This Time

"I must ask..." The Doctor said calmly, holding and fiddling with the Masters hand as they lay on the bed together, "Why did you call me here? Was it just for this?"

The Master chuckled happily, "oh Doctor I didn't call you here, it's this place! You should know that by now..."

The Doctor raised himself onto his elbow, "so you're saying that the planet sent me a distress signal?" The Master nodded, smiling, "there's no use trying to explain it. I was confused at first; I don't know what it is. But it seems to have our best interests at heart, so what's the point?"

The Doctor chuckled, "Not ours, yours. You wanted me to come here?"

The Master smiled and shrugged, "obviously, or else you wouldn't be here."

"... And you didn't want anyone to insult your broach..."

The Master looked over at the broach, which had been thrown onto the bedside table, "what's wrong with my broach...?"

"Nothing. It's elegant." The Doctor said, against his will. Shock and slight fear filled his head, it could control him? He looked up at the Master, who was smiling as if the compliment was a new toy.

It seemed that whatever it was that had brought them here wanted to make the Master happy, for some reason, it wouldn't let the Master leave, it knew he would be unhappy outside of this world, it was creating a paradise for him, all the rooms were tailored to his wants and needs. It had brought the Doctor, Amy and Rory here, and the Doctor was starting to wonder if it would let them leave.

The Doctor leant over and kissed the Master, "Shall we go and have breakfast?" Master smiled and nodded, "Scrambled eggs?"

He nodded, swinging his legs over the edge of the bad and pulling on his trousers and a shirt, "So, did you have a nice time last night?" the Doctor questioned. The Master giggled and nodded, he began dressing himself as well, "did you?"

The Doctor stood up, and walked towards the door, "yes of course... might be a little sore for a while though." They giggled as they started towards the tiny kitchen. "I think I'll take a detour" smiled the Doctor, "go and wake Amy and Rory, I'll meet you down there."

The Doctor jogged down the hallway, finding his way quite easily to Amy and Rory's room, he knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

Amy opened the door, "Isn't this place lovely, I had the best night's sleep."

"Yes, yes didn't we all, now about getting out of here, I'll go back to the TARDIS after breakfast, see if we can get away of our own accord."

"What?" Amy scoffed, "Why would we want to leave?"

"Because this place is toying with us, trixy place. It made me complement Masters broach. It's making things appear out of thin air. It's not right, we have to leave before it traps us."

Amy nodded as she and Rory came out of the room, "So shall we leave now? Should we take the Master with us?"

The Doctor led them down the corridor to the kitchen, he didn't expect either of them to remember the way, "We'll go after breakfast, we're having yummy scrambled eggs. I don't know if Master can come with us, I hope so, but this place might not let him."

They walked into the kitchen, Amy and Rory sat at the table, and Master greeted the Doctor with a kiss; this sparked an aww from Amy and an odd look from Rory, "What's the matter stupid face, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were homophobic..." murmured Amy, Rory defended himself by saying "I just don't like to think of the Doctor _like that_..."

The Doctor sat at the table, looking silently over his shoulder at the Master as he darted about the kitchen. "I really hope we can bring him with us, although of course he'll have to be confined, make a wing of the TARDIS for him maybe... I'd love to have another time lord with me, it's been so many years..."

Amy smiled, "So did you have fun last night?" she loved conversations of this nature...

The Doctor smiled, "yes, very much so, but I'd rather not go into details, it might make Rory throw up." Rory blushed, thankful for the consideration.

The Master hurried to the table, holding plates laden with food. Rory, Amy and the Doctor started eating, and the Master sat down and started his.

"So, we were thinking that we should head off after this. Do you wanna come with us Master?"

"Do you have to leave?" The Master said indignantly, "I don't want to go, I like it here."

The Doctor sighed, disheartened, "This place isn't right, there's something wrong here. It doesn't feel right... Please, you're more paranoid than me, no offence, you should be more anxious about this. Please Master you need to come with me."

The Master shook his head, "I can't leave. I've tried so many times, I've given up. It won't work."

The Doctors head sunk slightly, "your will's broken... You've been beaten one too many times, so you've regressed... That's why you're acting like this..." The Doctor rose from his chair, and started to walk towards the door. "Where are you going?" The Master asked angrily, "You can't leave, I love you, don't leave me again." The Doctor stopped, "Come with me..." He grabbed the Masters hand, "I'm not leaving without you. Not this time." Amy and Rory rose to follow the Doctor as he tugged the Master, who seemed very reluctant to leave.

"No, we'll stay here." Amy whispered, her face immediately filled with terror, she slapped a hand to her mouth, "I didn't say that."

"It's this planet," said the Doctor, "It's ok, it can't control your movements, only your voice. We'll stay in the ship..." He shook his head, "See! Like that!"

He stopped and turned to the Master, "Master you have to want us to leave, say you want to leave."

"It won't work," cried the Master, he was upset and confused by being forced to leave his new home, "I don't want to leave!"

The room started to change; it was as if the group were standing in a heat haze. The door to the kitchen disappeared, "I don't want to leave!" the Master cried again. He sank to his knees, grabbing helplessly at the hems of the Doctors trousers. Amy gasped and Rory clung to her as the room shrank, pushing furniture into them. The Doctor sank, level to the Master, he lifted the mans chin up and looked into his eyes "Think back to last night, how nice it was to be together again. This" He pulled the man into a loving embrace, "This is what you want… Come with me, we can be together for the rest of our lives." The doctor got to his feet and pulled the Master to his. The room morphed around them, becoming a narrow corridor with an extravagant door at the end. The group walked towards and out of the door, finding themselves back in the garnet forest.

The Doctor led them back to the TARDIS, which stood out like a sore thumb; dark blue against a red background. They entered the box, and found darkness. "Oh no…" whispered the Doctor, he ran forward, followed by the Master, and the pair started flipping switches, nothing happened, not even a sickening groan. The Doctor swore, "It killed her… My poor TARDIS…" He fell into the Masters arms, who stupidly tried to comfort him by gloating: "I told you it wouldn't work, I told you we couldn't leave." The Doctor sent a well-aimed punch into the Masters neck; he choked, and shut up. He and The Doctor stayed in each other's arms for a minute, the Master kissed the Doctors forehead. "She can't be dead…" the Master said, getting to his feet, he lifter a panel on the TARDIS wall and started pulling out seemingly random wires, and twisting them together. Amy tried to get to the Doctor to reassure him, but she fell over. "What the hell…?" she mumbled, turning to see what she had tripped over, but there was nothing there. "Doctor…?" she reached out an arm, there was something there that she couldn't see. "There's something here."

The Doctors face split into a grin as it dawned on him. "Of course! Oh thank _Marleken_!" The Master looked over, the Doctor must have come to quite a realization to say _that_. The Doctor crawled to Amy, finding the invisible object, "It is!" He laughed, "Amy! This is me!" He started shaking the invisible object, "This isn't real!" He shouted, he pulled a small torch out of one of his bottomless pockets, he found what he thought must be the 'invisible him's' eyes and pulled them open gently, shining the torch into them. The Doctor laughed, "I'll see you in a minute." He started to become translucent, quickly fading, leaving Amy, Rory and the Master looking gob smacked.

The Doctor opened his eyes and found himself inside the TARDIS, which was fully functional, he rushed over to Amy and slapped her, she inhaled sharply and opened her eyes, "… W… What happened?" The Doctor smiled, happy to explain, "There's a Kalnem living here. It's like… when you're little, you think there's a monster living in the wardrobe or under the bed?" Amy nodded, "_That_ is the complete opposite of a Kalnem, the monster in the wardrobe, makes you have bad dreams, makes you scared, it feeds off of fear. A Kalnem makes you happy." The Doctor darted over and woke Rory. "So are you saying this whole thing has been a dream?" The Doctor nodded, then sighed, "It means that last night wasn't real, which sucks. But the Kalnem cannot create people, which means that the Master is here somewhere. I've got to find him, he might be hurt."

The Doctor dashed out of the TARDIS, entering the metal and gem forest, interesting that the Kalnem hadn't changed the forest. He ran towards the sight of the crash, and looked in horror, seeing, a few meters from where the Kalnem had made the Masters home, a smoldering wreck of a ship, red lights flashing in the exposed cockpit, that must be what had really sent the distress signal. He scouted the area, eventually seeing a familiar man in a suit, he looked malnourished, Doctors best guess was that he'd been there for three days or so, he looked relatively unharmed, apart from a few shards of grass imbedded in his cheek. The Doctor kneeled next to the man, wincing slightly a blade of garnet slashed into his knee, he lifted the Master onto his lap, cradling the mans face, pulling small red fragments from it. The Master's mouth was twitching, small words forming soundlessly on his lips. He started to mumble; he seemed to be becoming more distressed, probably at the disappearance of his three friends, two of whom had just appeared at the Doctors side, again panting for breath. His words were growing louder and louder, eventually they were audible; "Doctor…?" he was whispering, although it was obvious it was meant to be a shout, "Doctor, my love where are you, you said you wouldn't leave me…" The Doctor felt an odd strain on his heart, he quickly pulled his torch out again and pointed it in the Masters eyes, he started to wake up, and immediately curled himself into a ball, retching, vomiting air. He stopped, now gasping, "Ow, my head…" he tried to stand, and immediately felt sick again. "Doctor, lovey, thank you, for not leaving me."

The Doctor smiled, getting to his feet and supporting the Master, taking at least half of the other time lord's weight, "I said I wouldn't" He pulled the Master into an embrace, and, forgetting that the Master had just thrown up, kissed him passionately. The Master giggled and kissed him back, before collapsing into a coughing fit, doubling over, "…This doesn't look too good", said the Doctor, "we should get him back to the TARDIS, get him scanned, something's wrong." He helped the Master along. "Just incase something does happen, just know that I love you, my Doctor…" He leaned across and whispered something in the Doctors ear, the Doctor smiled sadly, "you're not supposed to call me that anymore… But thank you, I love you too. I'm sure you'll be fine though, you can just regenerate." Then his face contorted, he'd just realized, "no you can't… You're still in a human body… It's ok I'm sure you'll be fine." His tone was unconvincing, and his pace had quickened slightly, he half dragged his fellow time lord, helped by Rory and Amelia. They reached the TARDIS and they pulled the Master inside, he was placed carefully on a chair. The Doctor pulled something out of the control panel and pointed it at the Master; the object emitted some high pitch beeping noises, and the Doctor read the diagnosis off of the monitor anchored to the central panel. What had been a hopeful smile dropped into a frown of despair, "I'm sorry, it's not good news…" the Doctor was welling up, "your mind's disintegrating, human bodies aren't meant to contain a time lord consciousness. I'd say you have about 2 days…"

The Master smiled and nodded, "I know what you're going to say, I want to stay with you... In reality."

"Are you sure? The Doctor asked sadly, "It would be like an eternity of happiness. It felt as if we were there for a whole day, it's only been ten minutes in reality."

The Master smiled, a loving smile mean to calm the other, almost distraught, time lord, who had started crying since reading the diagnosis, "I'd rather live two days with you than an eternity alone."

"You wouldn't have to be alone, I could drop these two off at home, we could go in together, live an eternity together." The Doctor sobbed.

The Master shook his head, "no, that thing can control you, I don't want you to be like that, I want _you _with all your likes and dislikes, I want you to be able to say that you don't like my broach, or for Rory to say he doesn't like homosexuality. I want to be _here._" He reached out and held the Doctors hand, pulling the Doctor into a kiss, "As long as I'm with you."

The Doctor smiled, he was happy to be with the Master, although he was saddened by the thought that he'd be gone soon, and wouldn't be coming back. There would be no point in trying to convince him to go back into the Kalnem's world, he was too stubborn. He guessed he'd just have to enjoy the couple of days they had left.


	3. An Upset

The Master was transported to a bedroom, time lords themselves didn't really need sleep, the Doctor only used it as a way to get away from his thoughts, but the Master, he was human now, he needed _some_ sleep. The Doctor lay on the bed next to him, clinging onto him as if for dear life, sobbing, he couldn't believe it, he'd just become reconnected, he'd loved being in contact with a time lord again, the feeling of being around them, the sound of two hearts, the thought that making that person a friend, meant it would be forever, unlike humans, "... Stupid bloody humans..." who could die in a blink. He and the Master were together for one hundred and fifty years in their youth, their break up then, after the Master started to develop his thirst for power, had almost killed the Doctor, he had spent three years eating almost nothing, shutting himself away in the dark. Every time he had met him since then had always hurt him, but he was always aware that that man was not the time lord he had loved, he was someone new, but now, he _was_ that man again, and the Doctor was loosing him again...

The Doctor drifted in and out of sleep for several hours; every time he woke he hugged the Master tighter, kissing him, wishing him better. The eighth time he woke, large brown eyes greeted him, staring into his own. "Hi..." The Master whispered, "Have a nice sleep did you?"

The Doctor nodded, both surprised and comforted by the Masters calm disposition when faced with almost certain death. "I took Amy and Rory home. We're at the Medusa Cascade... I thought you might like to be here... When... You know..." the Doctor looked away for a second, he didn't want to think about it. But this was the perfect place, one of his and the Masters favorite places, he had even set up a hammock in tribute to one of their naughtier visits to the place. "Do you feel any better now?"

The Master smiled, "Yes lots" he lied, Doctor smiled at the Master, he could tell it was a lie, "Ok, ok..." the Master rolled his eyes, "I'll take some pain killers, other than a little pain I'm fine."

The Doctor leant over him, placing his arm on the opposing side of the bed, "Well enough to, umm... Have some fun? I've set up a hammock..."

The Master grinned widely, "I thought you said you were to old to do something like that again, that it'd kill you."

The Doctor grinned back, not oblivious to the nature of the comment, "Yes but time with you is worth possible death."

The time lord stuck in a human's body sighed, putting a hand on his chest and feeling his now single heartbeat, the reaching out and feeling the Doctors two, "why did you send Amy and Rory home, you'll need them here when I go."

The Doctor quickly pecked Master on the cheek, "I don't want them to be here, it should be private… and I don't want them to see me grieving…"

"Yes you do, my love, I know you, you don't want people to see you vulnerable, but you need someone there to comfort you, I can't be there to do it… We'll have today to ourselves, but tomorrow, in the morning while I'm asleep I want you to go and get your humans. Then we'll have one last golden day together, Amy and Rory don't even have to be in the same wing of the TARDIS, I just don't want you to be alone when I die… You promised me you wouldn't leave me all alone, now I'm promising you the same thing."

The Doctor smiled again, sadly, he knew the Master was right… As always… "Fine." He bent down and gave him another kiss, this time long and slow, almost as if he was trying to fit all the lost moments, all the conversations they would never have, all the nights they would not be together, into one kiss. He flopped onto the bed, a tear ran down his cheek, his head was spinning from the intensity of their kiss, but that just made him feel worse, made him more aware of the fact that they would only be together for a couple of days more. "I'm going to miss you…"

This time the Master leant over the Doctor, "I'm going to miss you too, and you know if you feel too bad about this to _do_ anything today, I'm perfectly happy just sitting and watching the stars with you."

The Doctor lifted his head to kiss the bearded man, "No, I'm very eager to 'have a good time', I'm just a little sad that it'll be the last time…"

Master smiled, again, "If it's going to be the last time, then we better enjoy it." He leaned in slowly, brushing their lips together teasingly. The Doctor chuckled at this act, then pulled the Masters head towards his, forcing their lips together. He felt the Masters hand start to move down, and slide into his trousers. The old feeling of excitement filled his head, making him dizzy, he had missed that feeling, he hadn't felt it in so long, he had forgotten how good it felt, in the Kalnem's dream world everything was, well, a dream; dulled, the Doctor didn't remember _feeling_ anything.

"Do you want to umm…" The Doctor whispered, voice cracking, "…use the hammock?" The Master grinned, an almost evil, yet loving grin, the one the Doctor loved so much, had missed so much… Would miss so much.

The Doctor tried to push those thoughts to the back of his head, concentrating on the Masters kissing, his soft hand running over the more tender areas of his body. The Master withdrew slightly, "Lets go then…" The Master stood up, he seemed a lot steadier on his feet now. He pulled the Doctor to his feet and pulled him into yet another kiss, and they walked, entwined, down the hall.

The pair collapsed onto the hammock, panting, giggling happily, the hammock swung rhythmically, the Doctor rested his head against the Masters naked chest, "I'm going to miss this… Being with you…" The Doctor flinched slightly as he heard the sound of the Masters heartbeat; there was only one now… The Master tittered, then sighed, "I'm going to miss you so much… Actually, will I? I'll be dead. Is that possible?" The Doctor frowned, "I hope not, I don't want you missing me for eternity." He ran his hands over the Masters chest.

"Are you scared? About dieing." The Doctor whispered, as if it was a forbidden subject; the Master smiled, amused that this, "No." He said matter-of-factly.

"What? Why?"

"I've come so close to it before, it's almost mundane now."

The Doctor looked up at the Master, he seemed so confused that it bordered on disgust. "That makes no sense, I've come close before, I've regenerated 11 times, but if I was told I was going to die I'd be livid, I'd try anything to make sure it didn't happen."

The Master chuckled, "Yeah I used to say that too, but when you know it's your time… You'll be more accepting of the inevitable. Might even welcome it."

The Doctor bust out laughing, "Yeah, I'd like to see that!" The Master smiled, and slowly raised himself into a sitting position, the Doctor slid off of the Masters chest and watched as he rose and walked across the room, and poured himself a glass of water, "you look so good when you walk…" the Doctor had a large grin slapped across his face. The Master chuckled, "…are you hungry?" The Doctor smiled, "yeah, for you… And for bacon." The Master chuckled again, "Ok then, shall we make bacon? Or even better; a massive fry up."

The Doctor got up, and started to walk to the kitchen, but was flung across the room by a sudden jolt. "What the hell?" The Doctor grunted as alarm bells started echoing down the halls, coming from the control room. The two men glanced worriedly at each other before darting down the hallway, several more jolts sent the pair flying into the control room, the Master gasped in slight pain as he collided with the railing, "I thought you said we were stationary!" The doctor franticly pushed some buttons and pulled some cords, then stopped to look at the screen, "Yeah we are." He smiled and laughed as a pixilated image fizzled onto the screen. An oddly familiar voice echoed around the room, "Excuse me sirs." The Master laughed, "You didn't! But that's impossible!"

/

**Sorry it took so long for me to upload this, I've been working loads lately. The next chapter shouldn't take me so long to write. Please review.**


	4. A Day

**Oh my god, I am so sorry it's taken me so long to upload this, I didn't realise I hadn't already. Please review, even if it is only to tell me off for taking so long.**

"I'm so, so sorry Sirs. I didn't mean to hit you!" said the young man whose face flickered on the monitor. The Master smiled and laughed at the image, "That cannot be who I think it is."

"It's not my TARDIS, I'm just borrowing it, I don't know how it works yet." The young man's eyes darted across the screen, the Doctor wasn't sure why, but the boy looked so confused and embarrassed, but suddenly realised it was because neither himself or the Master had any clothes on – only boxer shorts. He quickly located a dressing gown and threw it over his shoulders. He darted to the screen and stared into the eyes of the boy, "Oh wow! It's you!" He lowered his voice so it was barely a whisper "…I mean… me… wow. I look so young." He suddenly chuckled loudly. "It's all right young one, It'll take you a fare while to figure everything out, even I haven't done it yet. How old are you? If you don't mind me asking."

The younger-him ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm almost 90 Sir. I know I'm too young, but my dad said it would be ok if I kept it stationary, I don't know how we crashed… maybe I left the handbrake off or something…? Please don't report me Sir."

The Doctor laughed and glanced over at the Master, he was gazing in total awe at the 'almost 90' year old Doctor, although he wasn't 'the Doctor' back then, they'd both had different names. "Is there anyone else there with you?" The Master asked loudly, making the young Doctor jump.

"Umm, yes, yes Sir. My partner Kos, umm, Koschei." The young man looked anxious, "But please, I don't want him to get in trouble, he didn't even want to come." His head jolted as he was distracted by another person coming into the room.

"Theta! I found my dressing gown, did you find out what was making all that racket?" a little blonde boy smiled, entering the edge of the frame slightly. The Doctor grinned, "I'll assume this is Kos?"

'Theta' backed away from the monitor slightly, "It's people Kos, we hit someone!"

The young Master swore and rolled his eyes, "Lovey, I told you you were too young, I knew something like this would happen… They're not angry are they?"

"No, 'they' are not. And technically you didn't crash; the medusa cascade is odd, it doesn't follow the usual time-space rules; because these two TARDIS' are occupying the same physical space, even though at different points in time, the cascade has brought the two objects together." The Doctor smirked at the two boys on the screen. Koschei didn't look very amused, "God, he talks like you Theta…"

"Like that's a bad thing?" Theta quipped, smiling widely at his boyfriend. Kos smiled back and playfully punched him in the arm. "So, Sir's" Kos turned to the camera, face beaming with false confidence "Do you know how we can fix this, whatever the hell, that's happened?"

The Master smirked at this obviously fake bravado the young him was talking with. "Yes, little Kos. Once one of us moves the timeline will be restored. We'll be the ones to move though; we wouldn't want you kids getting in any trouble."

Kos blushed slightly and shied away, leaving Theta to talk. "Ok Sir's, thank you for not reporting us." The Doctor smiled toothily, "No problem young-ones, it wasn't your fault, although probably best to not tell your father. It's been lovely meeting you, enjoy the rest of your trip."

The Doctor turned off the monitor and turned to the Master, "I know, I know we weren't supposed to talk to them, but I couldn't help it, it was just so tempting to see you like that, all young and blonde... So then… Kos, my dear friend. Where would you like to go?" The Master furrowed his brow, thinking, of all the places in the universe where would he like to spend his last days…

"Brighton." Master said, nodding happily.

"Brighton?" The Doctor cocked his head, "Why Brighton?"

The Master shrugged, "First place that popped into my head. I told you lovey, as long as I'm with you I don't care, as long as I'm with you and it's real. So, yeah, Brighton."

The Doctor exhaled and smiled, he shook his head slightly, "Master, my Master, _my Kos_. You want to go to Brighton? Then we'll go to Brighton. We'll eat ice cream on the pier, and go fishing, or something, anything you want." The Master took a seat by the console and watched as the Doctor hopped about, flicking switches and pressing buttons. That smile was on his face again; it was as if all his worries just disappeared, and there was only him and his TARDIS. "You'll be fine without me lovey, as long as you have your TARDIS…" the Master mumbled happily to himself, not intending the Doctor to hear him.

There was a slight crunch as the TARDIS was torn from the cascade, it hurtled quietly through space and came gently to a stop next to an ice cream stand. It was being oddly calm; like it could sense the Doctor was upset and wanted to please him. The Doctor gathered up some clothes from the bedroom and they dressed themselves, the Doctor was trying to talk normally about what the pair were going to do while at the seaside, Master just nodded along. "We should buy those massive lollipops." Master nodded. "We should ride the rollercoasters." Master nodded. "We should find one of those 2p machines." Master nodded.

The Doctor stopped and placed his hands on his hips, "You don't seem very enthusiastic, this was _your_ idea. What's the matter lovey…" he smiled sweetly and walked over to the Master, he straightened the powder blue tie Master had put on.

"I just want to sit in the sun, with some fish and chips, talk about the old days, and watch the tide go out." He smiled weakly and took the Doctors hand, "I just want to be with you…" The Doctor nodded and the two walked out of the TARDIS.

They quickly found a fish and chip shop and bought a portion each, they sat on a bench at the most perfect spot they could find, as they were walking the Doctor noticed that the Master was starting to find it hard to concentrate, he sighed sadly. What if he had miscalculated? What if the Master only had one day, not two. _Oh God_… the Doctor felt himself start to tear up, he wanted to stop this from happening, but he knew there was no way to. There was no animal that could contain a time-lords consciousness, without their mind disintegrating, apart from a time-lord. And even if there were, it would be unethical to switch the Masters consciousness with another's.

The Doctor sighed raggedly as they sat down to eat their food. The Master turned to him, smiling almost maliciously, "Oh stop wallowing, I'm the one who's bloody dying…" he violently threw a chip at a seagull before letting his head hang, he stared at the floor and frowned. "I don't want to leave you. But we both know it's happening, so stop being such a buzz-kill." He looked up and smiled happily, "It's not the end. Let's just enjoy today…"

The Doctor nodded and shoved a couple of chips in his mouth, "Ok, I'm sorry. I'll just forget that you're starting a long and painful journey which will end in your death, and that no matter what I do I can't stop it, and that no matter how good we make this day, it will end with you dying in my arms, yet again."

The Master smiled, "Good. And relax, I'm sure it won't be that long or painful."

The Doctor huffed angrily and stood up, "How can you not take this seriously? How can you not care? You. are. dying. How can you not get that?"

The Master frowned, "Hey! I do get that, I do care! But I _have_ to make jokes, I can't handle the thought of dying, of leaving you behind, how else am I supposed to cope?" He pushed himself to his feet, gesturing violently, "It's not my fault!" He glanced at a passing tourist and immediately lowered his voice, "It's not my fault I'm dying…" he tried to calm himself, but he could feel tears stinging his eyes.

The Doctor stopped frowning and suddenly looked very concerned, "Oh, Kos I'm sorry." He pulled the weaker man into a hug. He smiled slightly as he thought he heard one of the nearby locals say 'I think he has cancer or something.' and he pulled the Master into a tighter embrace, he could feel tears soaking through his shirt, so he too gave in to his emotions.

The Master stepped back after several minutes and wiped his eyes, "Well Doctor, shall we finish our food and go for a walk?" The Doctor nodded, and the two sat back down to finish their meal.

"Do you…" the Doctor cleared his throat "Do you remember when I first asked you out?"

The Master smiled and shook his head, "You didn't ask me, it just happened."

The Doctor scoffed and rolled his eyes, "We were standing outside the cinema on that 'educational trip' to see how humans viewed aliens in the 21st century. The other guys had gone off to buy some more popcorn, and_ I _walked over to _you_, and said that one of the trailers looked like it was going to be a good film, and asked if you wanted to see it with me."

"But I said that film looked crap, and I suggested another." The Master smiled and nodded.

The Doctor cut up his fish, and pushed some into his mouth, "Oh yeah… It was kind of a joint effort then… But still, I did ask you."

The Master shrugged, his argument defeated, his mouth flashed a small smile "Do you remember our first kiss?"

The Doctor chuckled "Yeah, it was terrible, I didn't know what I was doing." The Master ate a forkful of his food and leant back on the bench, he looked out a the receding sea, and smiled as he watch a young child play with her dog in the surf. "We were only 50… practically children…"

"And now we're in our ninth century. Where did all that time go?" The Doctor leant forward with his hands on his chin, and gazed out at the landscape.

"We wasted it on life, and fighting." Master patted the Doctor on the back and put the last of his fish in his mouth.

The two got to their feet and started walking along the path, the Master occasionally kicking the sand off the path, and once stopped to tell a little boy off for trying to pull off a crab's legs. The Doctor smiled and started thinking; if the Master hadn't developed his thirst for power, and hadn't left him, would they have stayed together for this long? Or would they have ended up fighting about something else?

He knew there was no way of changing events, it went against every possibility, but it was his nature to wish things could have been different, he couldn't help it. He didn't understand how someone so pure and loving could have done such horrible things. How could someone so good turn into someone so evil?

The Doctor knew the answer to that as well; the vortex. It had started to make him crazy as it had with so many others, the Doctor had noticed him changing throughout their relationship, noticed him getting worse, and even after they had broken up the Masters sanity had deteriorated still. His genocide attempts becoming more unpredictable and violent. Had the Kalnem somehow restored the Masters sanity? The Doctor chuckled lightly, his sanity was restored but he was in a body that couldn't contain it.


End file.
